Role-playing board game – While admitting nothing about whether the game is deserving of any kind of patent protection (I see nothing original), I can’t figure out what the game is, despite a lot of information in the patent. Any ideas?

The game uses 3D terrain and figures, some kind of dice and card driven space-themed combat mechanics, with the two sides called juggernauts and scythons. The inventors are Andrew and Brian Esquivel.

Method and apparatus for facilitating game play with a mortgaging option – A method of encouraging a blackjack player who was dealt a poor initial hand (e.g. ten five) to continue playing by offering a limited benefit on one or more future hands. Somehow, while this temporarily erases the house’s short term statistical edge for these hands, the house still retains a long term benefit. And, ultimately, more revenue.

Card game with counting – Rather than fighting card counting, a method to change the payouts as a deck diminishes and the odds change.

1 Comment

“1. A method of playing a role-playing board game comprising: selectively interconnecting a plurality of three-dimensional game board pieces; selectively interconnecting a plurality of connectors between the game board pieces, wherein each game board piece is a game board space; removably disposing a three-dimensional terrain feature on at least one of the game board pieces; dividing a plurality of three-dimensional units divided into humanoid-shaped units, machine-shaped units, transportation-shaped units, building units, and structural units, each unit having a base; transforming at least one humanoid-shaped unit from a first condition to a second condition: transforming at least one machine-shaped unit from a first condition to a second condition; wherein the first condition is the selective removable attachment of a plurality of attachable accessories onto each of the humanoid-shaped units and onto each of the machine-shaped units; dividing a plurality of tokens into sets, each set having a unique color and a unique symbol, the tokens representing ore, alloys, command points, and status effects; throwing at least one die and moving the number of game board spaces shown on the die; dividing a plurality of pegs into two set, each set having a unique color selectively removably attaching each peg to one of the units; distributing a draw stack to each player, each draw stack comprising the command cards, the pilot cards, and the add-on cards; distributing to each player a single command center, at least four tokens each representing common ore, at least two tokens each representing a metal alloy, and at least six tokens each representing a command point; moving each player’s command center within the player’s territory; placing a number of tokens representing command points required by a unit to perform an operation into a token discard pile, wherein an operation comprises converting at least one of the tokens representing ore with at least one token representing alloy, moving a unit on at least one game board space, attacking a unit of an opposing player, constructing one of the structural units prior to placing the structural unit onto the game board, constructing one of the attachable accessories prior to adding the attachable accessory to a unit; moving one of the building units onto the game board upon acquisition of a building unit by a player; constructing a structural unit during a player’s turn by expending a command card designated as a build order command card, expending a required number of command points, and expending a required amount of ore and alloy and further by possessing a building unit that corresponds to the structural unit; constructing an attachable accessory during a player’s turn; placing each completely constructed structural unit and each attachable accessory on the game board space adjacent to the building unit in which the structural unit and attachable accessory was constructed during the player’s turn next following completion of construction; removing an attachable accessory from a unit upon expenditure of the attachable accessory; wherein the second condition is the removal of at least one of the humanoid-shaped units and at least one of the machine-shaped unit and a pilot card bearing a firing direction and a range to allow the unit to land on one of the game board spaces occupied by the opposing player’s unit and bearing an attack pilot power at least equal to a number of armor points corresponding to the opposing player’s unit; removing a unit upon a player’s having an attachable accessory mounted to a unit and an add-on card bearing a firing direction and an add-on range wherein the add on moves onto one of the game board spaces occupied by the opposing player’s unit and bearing an add-on attack power at least equal to a number of the armor points corresponding to the opposing player’s unit.”

it’s a picture claim. I would guess that the value of this patent is close to zero, as I cannot see how anyone would ever infringe this patent. It appears to be a giant waste of time and effort.